EPA CHILD HEALTH ADVISORS FAULT AGENCY RISK DECISION FOR LEAD NAAQS PLAN

摘要

Members of EPA's child health panel are raising concerns that the agency has decided to reject studies showing harm from lead exposure below the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) "action" level, a move that could pave the way for the agency to either maintain or weaken the current national ambient air quality standard (NAAQS) for lead. Several members of the Children's Health Protection Advisory Committee (CHPAC) said during a Nov. 28 meeting in Washington, DC, that the agency should not base its revised standard on the CDC's action level of 10 micrograms per deciliter (ug/dL) for lead in children's blood because it would result in a less protective NAAQS than the science warrants, which they say will not adequately protect children's or general public health.